1980: Salome wins Class C crown

by Lloyd Herberg - Dec. 4, 2009 05:53 PMThe Arizona Republic

Originally published Nov. 22, 1980

Long before Salome met Maricopa for the Class C championship Friday night at Phoenix Indian High School, Salome Coach Richard Imhoff had diagnosed the game this way; "If they're going to beat us, they're going to have to throw the football. They will not beat us on the ground. On the other hand, they'll have to stop us on the ground."

He proved to be a prophet.

Salome rushed out to a 34-0 halftime lead and then withstood a third-quarter passing blitz by Maricopa quarterback Alfredo Flores to easily capture its first state title of any kind, 46-13.

Salome finished with 391 yards on the ground, a fact that did not catch Imhoff by surprise.

"That's what we've been all year long, a run-oriented ballclub," he said. "I felt we could run against them whenever we wanted to."

And run they did. In the process, Salome's Chuck Antoni finished his high school football career with a flourish.

Antoni, the state's leading career scorer coming into the game, added to his totals. On 23 attempts he gained 184 yards, rushing for four touchdowns and throwing for another. In four years he finished with 96 touchdowns, 82 extra points and one two point conversion run for 660 points.

"He's one of the best running backs I've seen in any division," said Maricopa coach Tom Kunz. "In my mind he could play for any ballclub in the state."

Antoni has been obscured somewhat by playing at the Class C level, where teams are made up of eight players and the field is only 80 yards long, but he's made enough of a name for himself to be recruited by the likes of Brigham Young University and New Mexico State.

"This is a good way to go," he said of ending his high school career.

In addition to Antoni, Salome's Rohn Alder also distinguished himself, rushing for 187 yards and a touchdown on 24 carriers. Alder already is ahead of Antoni's scoring pace though his sophomore season. After two seasons, Antoni had scored 136 points. Alder has 181 points.

A furious pass rush by Dave Arrington and George Nault continually pressured Flores throughout the first half, sacking him four times for minus-38 yards.

That was far different to the last time these two teams met. Salome still won 61-38, but Flores passed for 338 yards and five touchdowns that day. Only in the third quarter did he duplicate that past effort, hitting on seven of 10 passes for two touchdowns.

Despite the loss, Kunz was not downhearted. Maricopa will only lose six seniors. Besides, the Rams accomplished more than they expected this year.

"I said at the start of the year if we reached .500 I'd be happy," he said. "I'm tickled to death to be here."